How to Add a Notification Center in WordPress Admin

Do you receive constant WordPress admin notifications from your plugins and themes?

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could take these notices and place them in a convenient, out-of-the-way dropdown menu at the top of the screen?

In this article, we will show you how to add a notification center in WordPress.

How to Add a Notification Center in WordPress

Why Add a Notification Center in WordPress?

On your WordPress website, you will see notifications from plugin and theme authors in the admin area of your site. If you have a lot of plugins, these admin notices can get out of control and sometimes cover half the screen.

Notification overload isn’t just a problem with WordPress. That’s why smartphone developers work hard to make it easy to manage notifications with a lock screen or swipe gestures.

Facebook does something similar by providing a dropdown notification area where you can see and manage notifications for specific people or pages.

The Facebook Notification Area

You can do this on your WordPress blog, too, by adding a notification center to your admin toolbar.

Note: This guide is about notifications that display in the WordPress admin dashboard. For help with managing your email notifications, you can see our guide on how to add better custom email notifications in WordPress.

With that being said, let’s take a look at how to add a notification center in WordPress.

How to Add a Notification Center in WordPress

The first thing you need to do is install and activate the Admin Notices Manager plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, the plugin will start to capture all new notifications. You don’t need to adjust any settings for it to begin working.

Admin notices will be moved out of the WordPress dashboard and displayed in one central location on the WordPress toolbar next to your username in the top bar, right beside the ‘Howdy Admin’ greeting.

To begin with, there will be no new notifications to display. Instead, the plugin will show a message that lets you know where the new notifications will be displayed.

After Activation, the Plugin Will Show Where Notifications Will Be Displayed

Once there are some notifications, the number of new notices will be highlighted on your admin toolbar.

When you click on the ‘Admin notices’ link at the top of the screen, a panel that lists each admin notice will appear below it.

Preview of the WordPress Notification Center

You can interact with a notification directly, clicking buttons or links right from the notification center.

When you’ve finished with a notification, you can dismiss it by clicking the ‘X’ icon in the top right corner. Or if you never wish to see that specific notification again, simply click the ‘Hide notice forever’ link at the bottom.

Adjusting Admin Notices Settings

Simply head over to the Settings » Admin Notices page to configure the plugin.

From here, you get to choose which types of admin notices appear in your new notification center. You can also select some to show up in the WordPress dashboard as usual, or you can hide them completely.

Admin Notices Settings

Here you will find settings for each type of standard admin notice:

  • Green success notices about changes made to your site, such as a changed setting
  • Red error notices that appear when something has gone wrong with your site
  • Yellow warning notices that let you know that something requires your attention
  • Blue information notices that display simple information

Near the bottom of the page, you can customize the way notifications are hidden and whether the notification center slides in from the side or is displayed as a popup.

More Admin Notices Settings

When you are happy with your settings, make sure you scroll to the bottom of the page and click the ‘Save Changes’ button to store your settings.

Your WordPress notification center is now set up, and all of your messages will start appearing in the top admin bar immediately.

We hope this tutorial helped you learn how to add a notification center in WordPress. You may also want to learn how to create a free business email address, or check out our list of important reasons why you should use WordPress for your website.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Add a Notification Center in WordPress Admin first appeared on WPBeginner.

How to Customize WordPress Admin Dashboard (6 Tips)

Do you want to customize the WordPress admin dashboard?

The WordPress admin area can sometimes get too cluttered with widgets, menu items, and options added by WordPress itself or other plugins and themes.

In this beginner’s guide, we’ll show how to easily customize the WordPress admin dashboard by hiding unwanted items and rearranging admin screens. We will also cover how to change admin menus, and a whole lot more.

Customizing your WordPress admin area dashboard

Here is a brief overview of the topics we’ll cover in this article.

Ready? Let’s get started.

Why Customize WordPress Admin Area?

If you have been managing a WordPress website for a while now, you may have noticed different widgets, notices, and menu items in your WordPress admin area.

Cluttered WordPress admin area

Some items like plugin notices and alerts go away when you close or dismiss them. However, many other items stay in place on different WordPress admin screens.

What most WordPress beginners don’t know is that they can easily hide these items, move them around, and customize their WordPress admin dashboard on their website.

A lot of developers customize the WordPress admin dashboard for their clients to make it easier.

That being said, let’s look at how to easily customize your WordPress admin area and improve your WordPress experience.

1. Hiding WordPress Admin Elements with Screen Options

Many WordPress admin pages, including the main Dashboard, have a Screen Options button at the top right corner of the screen.

Clicking on it will bring a fly-down menu with different options. Simply uncheck the options you don’t want to see, and they will disappear from that page.

Screen Options on the Dashboard page in WordPress admin area

For instance, on the ‘Dashboard’ page, you can hide widgets you have never used and keep the widgets that provide valuable information.

While on the ‘Dashboard’ page, you can also drag and drop widgets to rearrange them on the screen. For instance, you can move your ‘At a Glance’ widget and ‘Site Health‘ widget to the top.

Moving widgets on the Dashboard screen

The ‘Screen Options’ button will show you different options depending on which page inside the WordPress admin area you are looking at.

For instance, on the Posts » All Posts page, the screen options button will allow you to show or hide columns, change the number of posts displayed, or switch to an extended view.

Screen Options on the posts page

Try using the ‘Screen Options’ feature on different pages inside your WordPress admin area to see the options available to adjust those pages to your own needs.

Note: Screen Options settings are stored for each user. Your changes will not apply to other users or authors on your WordPress site.

2. Customize Block Editor Screen in WordPress Admin Area

An average WordPress user spends most of their time using the Block Editor. This is the default WordPress content editor that you use to write blog posts and create pages for your website.

The block editor already comes with a clutter-free user interface that provides you with lots of room to edit your content.

Block editor screen

However, it also allows you to adjust certain settings to make your writing experience even better.

Simply click on the three-dot menu button at the top right corner of the screen and click on the Preferences option.

Block editor Preferences

This will bring up a popup where you can adjust different settings for the block editor.

First, under the ‘General’ tab, you can reduce the User Interface, which will make the interface more compact.

Block editor general preferences

You can also turn on the ‘Spotlight mode,’ which will only highlight the block you are in and fade other parts of the screen.

Next, you can switch to the ‘Blocks’ tab. From here, you can show and hide blocks that are available for you inside the editor.

Show or hide blocks

Lastly, the ‘Panels’ tab has even more options.

From here, you can decide which panels are shown or hidden inside the block editor’s right-hand sidebar.

Show hide panels in block editor

Once you have hidden the features you don’t use, you can click the ‘X’ in the upper-right corner to return to the post editor.

Next, clicking on the ‘Gear’ icon at the top will expand or hide the settings panel. This comes in handy when you are working with full-width content layouts.

show or hide settings panel

Inside the sidebar brought up by the Gear icon, you can choose to collapse any tab by clicking on the upward arrow.

This will clear additional clutter and help create a distraction-free block editor screen for you.

Collapse tabs in the post panel

You may also want to see these extra tips on mastering the WordPress content editor to make your content creation experience more pleasant.

3. Show or Hide WordPress Admin Menu Items

As you install more WordPress plugins on your website, you will see that many of them add their own menu items to the left-hand sidebar menu in your WordPress admin dashboard.

Admin sidebar clutter

Now some of them you may need to access regularly. For instance, you may want to have easy access to contact form entries or fine-tune the SEO settings for your WordPress blog.

However, you may not need constant access to some of these menu items, or you may not want other users on your site to see them.

Luckily, there is a plugin to help you control which menu items appear in your WordPress admin sidebar. You can also control which user role can see a menu item in the admin area.

First, you need to install and activate the Admin Menu Editor plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit the Settings » Menu Editor page to configure admin area menus.

You will see all the main menu items in the first column. Clicking on a menu item will show child items nested beneath it in the second column.

Delete menu item

You can click to select a menu item and then click on the delete button at the top toolbar to remove it.

You can also restrict who can see a menu item in the WordPress admin sidebar. Simply click to select a menu item, and then under settings, set a restriction under ‘Extra capability.’

Restrict to user role

For instance, in the image above, we have hidden the Comments menu item from all users except those with the Administrator user role.

Once you have made changes to the admin area menus, don’t forget to click on the ‘Save Changes’ button to store your settings.

The plugin will show your customized WordPress admin area menus on the screen.

Hidden admin menus

If you don’t see the changes appear immediately, you might have to refresh your page or log out and back in for the menu customizations to show up.

For more details, see our complete tutorial on how to hide unnecessary menu items in the WordPress admin area.

4. Customize What Appears in WordPress Admin Toolbar

The admin toolbar is the menu on top of WordPress admin area screens. The toolbar is also visible when you visit the public areas of your website while logged in.

WordPress admin toolbar

To customize the WordPress admin toolbar, install and activate the Adminimize plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, go to the Settings » Adminimize page and look for the ‘Admin Bar Backend Options’ and ‘Admin Bar Front End Options’ tabs.

Admin toolbar options

Clicking on either of them will take you to an options screen where you can select which items to display in the WordPress admin bar.

You can also choose items that will be visible to each user role.

Hide items from admin toolbar

Don’t forget to click the ‘Update options’ button to save your changes.

For more details, see our beginner’s guide to the WordPress admin toolbar.

5. Change The WordPress Admin Color Scheme

WordPress comes with a few basic color options that you can use for the admin area.

Simply head over to the Users » Profile page and find the ‘Admin Color Scheme’ options.

You then just have to click a color scheme to preview it in the WordPress admin area.

Choose a color scheme for WordPress admin area

Don’t forget to click on the ‘Update Profile’ button at the bottom to save your changes.

Don’t like the available color schemes?

You can make your own color scheme by installing and activating the Admin Color Schemer plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Note: Admin Color Schemer plugin may show a warning that it hasn’t been updated for a while. That’s because the plugin didn’t need an update. It is created by the WordPress Core Team and is safe to install.

Upon activation, you need to visit the Tools » Admin Colors page to create your color scheme.

Make your own WordPress admin color scheme

When you’re happy with your customizations, you can click ‘Save and Use’ to apply them to the dashboard.

Note: You can undo the color changes by simply deactivating the plugin or loading the default color scheme under the Users » Profile page.

For more details, see our tutorial on how to change the WordPress admin color scheme for beginners.

6. Create a Custom Login Page for WordPress Admin Area

Want to replace the default WordPress login page with your own custom login page without writing code?

For that, you’ll need SeedProd. It is the best WordPress page builder that allows you to design your WordPress website with a beautiful drag-and-drop tool (no coding required).

SeedProd WordPress Website Builder

First, you need to install and activate the SeedProd plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, go to SeedProd » Settings page to enter your license key. You can find this information under your account on the SeedProd website.

Verifying your SeedProd license

After that, head over to the SeedProd » Landing Pages.

You will now see a choice of different kinds of landing pages you can create, so find the one labeled ‘Login Page’ and click on the ‘Set up a Login Page’ button.

Set up a login page

Next, you’ll be asked to choose a template for your login page design.

SeedProd comes with a bunch of beautiful designs that you can use as a starting point.

Choose template

Simply click to select a template and then provide a name for your login page.

This name will be used internally to identify this page when you need to edit it again.

Login page name

Click on the ‘Save and Start Editing the Page’ button to continue.

This will launch the SeedProd page builder interface. It is a drag-and-drop design tool where you can point and click on any item on the screen to edit it.

Login page builder

You can add new items from the sidebar or edit the login form to choose what happens after users log in.

You can also adjust any form labels or text, in addition to the page design itself.

Editing login form

Once you are finished, switch to the ‘Page Settings’ tab in the builder.

Scroll down to ‘Redirect the Default Login Page’ option to turn it on.

Turn on login page redirect

Finally, don’t forget to click on the ‘Save’ button in the top-right.

Then click ‘Publish’ to create your new login page.

Publish login page

You can now visit the normal login page of your WordPress website.

You’ll see your custom design instead, and so will your users.

Custom login page

For more details, see our guide on how to create a custom login page for WordPress.

We hope this article helped you learn how to easily customize WordPress admin area. You may also want to see our guide on how to protect the WordPress admin area or check out our complete WordPress security guide to safeguard your entire website.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Customize WordPress Admin Dashboard (6 Tips) first appeared on WPBeginner.

How to Fix Missing Theme Customizer in WordPress Admin

Do you want to fix the missing theme customizer in the WordPress dashboard?

WordPress themes that support full site editing (FSE) don’t include a theme customizer option in the WordPress admin panel. Instead, you’ll see a new ‘Editor (Beta)’ option under the Appearance menu.

In this article, we’ll show you how to fix the missing theme customizer in WordPress admin.

How to fix missing theme customizer in WordPress admin

What Happened to the Theme Customizer in WordPress Admin?

With WordPress gradually releasing the new full site editor, many themes no longer show the theme customizer option in your WordPress dashboard.

Full site editing allows you to customize your website design using blocks, just like editing a blog post or page in the WordPress content editor. You can add and edit different sections of your theme template using blocks, widgets, and menus.

However, your Appearance menu will look different if you’re using a block-based theme like the default Twenty Twenty-Two theme.

Missing theme customizer from admin panel

You’ll notice that the ‘Customize’ option to open the theme customizer is missing from the Appearance menu. Instead, there’s an ‘Editor (Beta)’ option to launch the full site editor.

By using the full site editor, you should be able to make any changes you would have made with the Customizer tool.

However, you might prefer to use the customizer instead of learning a whole new way of customizing your theme. In that case, we’ve put together a guide on how you can still use the customizer on your WordPress site.

Let’s look at some of the ways you can fix the missing theme customizer.

Fixing Missing Theme Customizer from WordPress Admin

There are 3 simple ways you can use to fix the missing theme customizer from your WordPress admin panel.

We’ll go through each method, so you can choose the one that best suits you.

1. Manually Enter the Theme Customizer URL in Your Browser

If you’re using a WordPress theme that uses the full site editor and want to access the theme customizer, then you can add ‘customize.php’ at the end of your WordPress admin URL.

Your website URL will look like this:

https://example.com/wp-admin/customize.php

Simply replace ‘example.com’ with your own website domain name and enter the link in your web browser. This will launch the theme customizer for your website.

Access theme customizer with URL

However, it’s important to note that the editing options will be limited in the theme customizer for themes using full site editing. For instance, you may only see a few simple settings like site identity, homepage settings, and additional CSS.

If you want to use all the options offered by the theme customizer to edit your site’s theme, then you can use the next method.

2. Switch Your WordPress Theme to Fix Missing Theme Customizer

Another way to solve the missing theme customizer issue is by changing your WordPress theme.

Full site editor is steadily rolling out, and it’s still in the early phases even in the latest WordPress 6.0 version. This means that not many themes fully support site editing at the moment, and those that do can be clunky and tricky to use.

Plus, the block-based themes have limited customization options if you access the theme customizer.

A simple way of restoring the theme customizer menu is by switching your WordPress theme to one that doesn’t include full site editing.

Themes that don't support full site editing

You can see our list of the most popular WordPress themes for plenty of options.

For more details, you can see our guide on how to change your WordPress theme.

3. Use a WordPress Theme Builder to Fix Missing Theme Customizer

You can also use a WordPress theme builder like SeedProd to customize your WordPress website and fix the missing theme customizer from WordPress admin.

WordPress theme builders allow you to customize your site’s theme the way you want without writing any code or hiring a developer. Their drag and drop interface lets you build different theme templates and removes the need to use the WordPress theme customizer.

SeedProd is the best WordPress theme builder and page builder plugin that’s used by over 1 million professionals. It offers pre-built theme templates that you can use to create a custom WordPress theme in no time.

SeedProd website theme templates

After selecting a template, you can use the drag and drop builder to customize your design.

Simply drag any element from the menu on your left and drop it onto the template. Plus, there are options to further customize each element on the template and change its color, size, font, and alignment.

SeedProd even includes WooCommerce blocks, so you can use it to create an online store.

SeedProd drag and drop theme builder

For step-by-step instructions, you can see our beginner’s guide on how to create a custom WordPress theme (no code).

We hope this article helped you learn how to fix missing theme customizer in WordPress admin. You can also see our guide on how to check website traffic for any site, or see our expert pick of the best WordPress SEO plugins to improve your rankings.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Fix Missing Theme Customizer in WordPress Admin first appeared on WPBeginner.

How to Add and Customize Admin Columns in WordPress

Are you looking for a way to add and customize admin columns on your website?

WordPress shows built-in columns by default for posts, pages, comments, users, and more. However, you can make your editorial workflow faster and smoother by adding more admin columns.

In this article, we will show you how to add and customize admin columns in WordPress.

Add and customize admin columns in WordPress

Why Add Admin Columns in WordPress?

By default, WordPress only shows a few built-in columns. For instance, in the posts section, you can only view the post’s title, author, categories, tags, and date.

Managing a WordPress site with lots of content or multiple authors means more tasks for admins to perform.

Admins of growing WordPress sites are always looking for tools and plugins to improve their editorial workflow.

A lot of the tasks that need to be performed can be done quicker if you can see all the useful information on one screen.

That’s when admin columns come in handy.

You can display additional columns in the WordPress admin area and have complete control over all columns for pages, posts, media, comments, and users.

Let’s look at how you can add and customize admin columns in WordPress.

Adding and Customizing Admin Columns in WordPress

The easiest way to add more columns in the admin area is by using the Admin Columns plugin.

It’s a free WordPress plugin that lets you manage and organize columns in the WordPress admin panel and get a clear overview of your editorial workflows.

First, you’ll need to install and activate the Admin Columns plugin on your website. For more details, please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

After activation, you can navigate to Settings » Admin Columns to configure admin columns.

Edit existing columns

You can customize existing admin columns by simply using the drag and drop interface and rearranging items in the order you want.

The plugin also lets you edit existing columns. For instance, you can click the ‘Edit’ button for any column and then change its type, label, and width.

Editing admin columns

In addition to the default columns, you can add more admin columns by clicking the ‘+ Add Column’ button.

Add new admin column

For example, we added the featured image admin column for the posts screen. Admins will now see the featured images of all the blog posts in the admin panel and won’t have to view each article individually.

It’s important to note that if your thumbnails appear too big or in the wrong size, then you will need to regenerate thumbnails for new image sizes in WordPress.

After adding columns for the posts section, don’t forget to click the ‘Save’ button.

You can now do the same for other sections on your WordPress website. Simply click on the dropdown menu at the top and select a section for your site.

Add columns to other sections in WordPress

For example, on the media screen, you can add image dimensions, EXIF data, Alt text, and caption.

Dimensions column in media

After adding these columns in the plugin, you can now head over to the WordPress admin panel to see them in action.

Here’s a preview of how a featured image column will look like in the posts section on our demo website.

Admin columns preview

Customize Other Admin Columns in WordPress

Certain popular WordPress plugins All in One SEO for WordPress and others will also automatically add columns in the admin area.

This can help you bulk edit SEO titles, meta descriptions, and more right from the post edit screen.

All in One SEO Bulk Edit Meta Description

If you see any plugin that’s adding an admin column that you do not want, then you can easily hide it by clicking on the Screen Options menu on the top right.

This will slide down a menu where you can simply uncheck the column that you don’t want to see.

Hide admin columns in WordPress using Screen Options

We hope this article helped you customize and add admin columns in WordPress. You may also check out our guide on how to choose the best web design software and the best WooCommerce plugin.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Add and Customize Admin Columns in WordPress first appeared on WPBeginner.

How to Change the Admin Color Scheme in WordPress (Quick & Easy)

Do you want to change the admin color scheme in WordPress?

Changing the color scheme of the WordPress admin lets you create a custom dashboard for you and your team. The color scheme can match the design of your brand, or just feature your favorite colors.

In this article, we’ll show you how to change the admin color scheme in WordPress easily.

How to change the admin color scheme in WordPress

Why Change the Admin Color Scheme in WordPress?

If you’re not a fan of the default admin color scheme in WordPress, then you can easily change the color scheme to something you like.

You can also change the color scheme to match the design of your WordPress theme, or even add a dark mode feature.

This can be useful if you have a membership site or online store where users can log in to your site, and want your website and admin dashboard to offer a similar experience.

You could also use a different admin color scheme for your staging site to more easily tell it apart from your live site.

That being said, let’s show you a few different ways you can change the admin color scheme in WordPress. You can use the quick links below to jump straight to the method you want to use.

How to Change the Admin Color Scheme with WordPress Default Settings

WordPress has a built in feature that lets you choose from a few predetermined color palettes for your WordPress admin dashboard.

To change the admin color scheme, simply login to your WordPress admin dashboard, and then navigate to Users » Profile.

After that, select the new color scheme in the ‘Admin Color Scheme’ section by clicking the radio button.

Select new admin color scheme

There are 9 different color schemes to choose from.

As you click different options, the color scheme will automatically change.

Admin color scheme change example

Once you’ve selected a color scheme you like, you need to scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the ‘Update Profile’ button.

Save new admin color scheme

You can also control the admin color scheme for other registered users on your WordPress website.

To do this, go to Users » All Users, and then hover over the user and click the ‘Edit’ button.

Edit user color scheme

Then, simply follow the same process as above to change the admin color scheme for that user.

Once you’re finished, make sure to click the ‘Update Profile’ button at the bottom of the page.

How to Create Custom Admin Color Schemes in WordPress

If you want even more color choices for your admin dashboard, then you can create custom color schemes and upload them to your WordPress blog.

To do this, go to the free WordPress Admin Colors website and click the ’Start Creating’ button.

Click start creating button

Then, enter a name into the ‘Color Scheme Name’ box.

This name will show up in your WordPress admin panel as a new color option.

Enter color scheme name

After that, you can fully customize your color scheme by clicking the color options in the ‘Choose your colors’ section.

To change one of the existing colors, click the color and choose your new color from the popup. You can click anywhere on the color picker, or enter a hex code for a specific color.

Click to customize colors

Once you’re finished customizing your color scheme, click the ‘Generate Color Scheme’ button at the bottom of the page.

This will create the color scheme code that you need to add to WordPress.

Click to generate color scheme

On the next page there will be two different code files.

You need to download the CSS file and copy the code snippet and paste it into your favorite text editor. We will be adding these to your WordPress files.

Download CSS and copy PHP code

If you haven’t done this before, then check out our guide on how to copy and paste code in WordPress.

You can add the code snippet to your functions.php file, in a site-specific plugin, or by using a code snippets plugin.

For this tutorial, we’ll use a code snippets plugin. It’s the easiest and most beginner-friendly method of adding code snippets to your WordPress site.

First, you need to install the Code Snippets plugin. For more details, see our beginner’s guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you’ll have a new menu item labeled ‘Snippets’ in your WordPress admin bar. Go ahead and navigate to Snippets » Add New.

Then, give your code snippet a name. This can be anything to help you remember your code.

After that, you can paste the snippet you copied above into the ‘Code’ box.

Name and add new code snippet

Next, click the ‘Save Changes and Activate’ button at the bottom of the screen.

This will save the code and activate the new admin color scheme.

Save and activate code snippet

Now, you need to upload the CSS stylesheet you downloaded earlier to your theme directory in your WordPress hosting account.

To do this, you can use an FTP client, or the file manager option in your WordPress hosting control panel.

If you haven’t used FTP before, then you might want to check out our guide on how to use FTP to upload files to WordPress.

First, you need to connect to your website using an FTP client, or the file manager in cPanel. Once you’re connected, you need to navigate to the /wp-content folder.

Select wp-content folder FTP

Inside the wp-content folder, you will see a folder called themes. This is where WordPress stores all the themes your website uses or has used in the past.

You need to click on the themes folder, and then open up the folder for the theme you’re using.

Open themes folder and select theme

Then, upload the display.css file that you downloaded.

Your CSS file will have the name that you chose earlier.

Upload new CSS file

Note: If you change WordPress themes, then you will need to upload the CSS file to your new theme folder.

After that, navigate to Users » Your Profile.

Then, you can select the new color scheme you just created.

Select custom color scheme

If you want to use this color scheme, then make sure to click the ‘Update Profile’ button at the bottom of the page.

How to Control the Default Admin Color Scheme for New Users

When a new user creates an account, they’ll have the option to customize their color scheme. But, you may want to control the default admin color scheme or prevent users from changing the color scheme altogether.

The easiest way to do this is by using the free plugin Force Admin Color Scheme.

First, you need to install and activate the plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, navigate to Users » Profile and then select your admin color and click the ‘Force this admin color scheme on all users’ checkbox.

Check force admin color scheme checkbox

After that, click the ‘Update Profile’ button at the bottom of the page.

Now the default admin color scheme will be the same for all new and existing users on your site.

The plugin also disables the admin color scheme selector for all of your users. The only users who can change this color are those with admin access.

We hope this article helped you learn how to change the admin color scheme in WordPress. You may also want to see our expert picks on the best WordPress landing page plugins and our guide on how to choose the best domain name registrar.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Change the Admin Color Scheme in WordPress (Quick & Easy) appeared first on WPBeginner.

How to Fix the “Sorry, You Are Not Allowed to Access This Page” Error in WordPress

Are you frustrated by the “Sorry, you are not allowed to access this page” error in WordPress?

This error usually displays when you’re trying to see a page in your WordPress dashboard that your user role doesn’t have permission to see.

However, you might see the error sometimes even when you’re supposed to have access to that page. This error can be caused by lot of different reasons which makes it tricky for beginners to troubleshoot.

In this article, we’ll show you how to fix the “Sorry, you are not allowed to access this page” error in WordPress.

How to Fix the 'Sorry, You Are Not Allowed to Access This Page' Error in WordPress

What Causes the “Sorry, You Are Not Allowed to Access This Page” Error in WordPress?

WordPress user roles and permissions define what your users can and can’t do in WordPress. For example, an author on your site wouldn’t be able to edit the post of another author, only their own posts.

If someone gave an author the link to edit someone else’s post, then they would see the “Sorry, you are not allowed to access this page” WordPress error when following the link.

However, sometimes you might see “Sorry, you are not allowed to access this page” when you should have access to view the page.

If you’re not the site owner or administrator, and you’re seeing this error, then you should contact the site owner or admin to let them know. They can explain why you don’t have access to the page, or they can change your role to grant you access.

If you are the site owner or have an admin role, but you’re still seeing the “Sorry, you are not allowed to access this page” error when trying to log in to your own website, then something has gone wrong with the permissions.

Maybe there was an issue with a WordPress update. Maybe there was a problem when a theme or plugin was updated. Or maybe something has gone wrong with your configuration.

If you’re seeing this error when you try to log in, then you won’t be able to fix the error by changing your WordPress settings in the dashboard. You’ll have to work with the files and databases directly.

This can be tricky for beginners and making a mistake could make things worse. As a precaution, we recommend you first make a complete backup of your WordPress website.

You could also start by contacting your hosting provider. They may be able to fix the problem for you.

That being said, here are some steps you can follow to troubleshoot and fix the “Sorry, you are not allowed to access this page” error in WordPress.

Checking You Have the Correct WordPress Role

If you’re able to log in to the WordPress dashboard, but can’t access specific pages, then the issue could be that your WordPress user role was changed, and you’re no longer an admin.

From the WordPress dashboard, you can see your user role by visiting the Users » All Users page, and looking under the ‘Role’ column.

View all users and user roles in WordPress

If you don’t have access to the Users page, then this means that you are not an administrator.

If you or someone else accidentally deleted your administrator account or changed your user role, then you can add a new admin user with phpMyAdmin.

Checking for a Corrupt .htaccess File

If you have an admin user role, and you’re still seeing the “Sorry, you are not allowed to access this page” error, then it could be caused by a corrupt .htaccess file. We can check this by renaming the file.

You will need to use an FTP client or the file manager feature in your WordPress hosting account. If you haven’t used FTP before, then you may want to see our guide on how to use FTP to upload files to WordPress.

Using your FTP client, you need to navigate to the root folder containing all your WordPress files. Once you find the .htaccess file you need to rename it to something else, such as .htaccess.old.

Right Click to Rename .htaccess

If you cannot find your .htaccess file, then see our guide on how to find .htaccess in WordPress.

Once you rename the file, try logging onto your WordPress site to see if that has fixed the problem. If it hasn’t, then rename it back to .htaccess and move on to the next step.

If you can log in, then you fixed the problem. The next step is to generate a new .htaccess file. To do that, navigate to the Settings » Permalinks page in WordPress.

Click Save Changes

Simply click on the Save Changes button at the bottom of the page and WordPress will generate a fresh .htaccess file.

Checking for Incorrect File Permissions

While you have your FTP client open, we’ll check to make sure there isn’t a problem with your file permissions. File permissions control who can access files and folders on your website.

The following settings are recommended for most users:

755 for all folders and sub-folders.
644 for all files.

Using your FTP client, you need to navigate to the root folder containing all your WordPress files and select the wp-admin, wp-content and wp-includes folders. Then you need to right click and select ‘File Permissions’.

Right Click to Select File Permissions

This will bring up the file permissions dialog box.

Now you need to enter 755 in the numeric value field. After that, you can click on the ‘Recurse into subdirectories’ checkbox and then select ‘Apply to directories only’ option.

Folders Should Have Permissions of 755

Click on the OK button to continue. Your FTP client will start setting file permissions to folders and sub-folders. You will need to wait for it to finish.

Next, you need to select all files and folders in the root folder of your WordPress site and then right click to select file permissions.

Right Click to Select File Permissions

The file permissions dialog box would appear.

This time you need to enter 644 in numeric value. After that you need to click on ‘Recurse into subdirectories’ checkbox and then select ‘Apply to files only’ option.

Files Should Have Permissions of 644

Click on OK to continue and your FTP client will now start setting file permission to all files on your WordPress site.

Once you’ve done this, try logging into your WordPress website again. If you’re successful, then you’ve fixed the problem. If not, then move on to the next step.

Deactivating All Plugins Using FTP

If the steps above haven’t resolved the issue, then our next step is to check whether a faulty WordPress plugin is causing the error. We’ll do that by temporarily deactivating all plugins.

First, you need to connect to your website using an FTP client. Once connected, you need to navigate to the /wp-content/ folder.

Right Click to Rename the Plugins Folder

Once there, you will see a folder called plugins. This is where WordPress stores all plugins installed on your website.

You need to right click on the plugins folder and select Rename. Next, you should type in a different name. We will call it ‘plugins.deactivate’.

The Folder is Now Named plugins.deactivated

All of your plugins have been deactivated. Now try to log into your WordPress site to see if this has fixed the problem.

If you still receive the “Sorry, you are not allowed to access this page” error, then the problem isn’t caused by a plugin. You’ll need to rename the ‘plugins.deactivate’ folder back to ‘plugins’ and move on to the next step.

If you can now log in, then you know that one of the plugins is causing the error. We just have to find out which one.

Using your FTP client, rename the ‘plugins.deactivate’ folder back to ‘plugins’ then navigate inside the plugins folder. Now rename the first plugin to something like ‘plugin-name.deactivate’.

Now go back to your site to see if you can log in. If you can’t, then change the plugin’s name back and move on to the second plugin. Repeat the process until you find the one that caused the issue.

Once you’ve found the faulty one, you can switch to a different plugin that doesn’t cause the problem. Or you can contact the plugin author and work with them to come up with a solution.

Activating the Default Theme Using FTP

If the plugin solution didn’t work for you, then we’ll need to check if your WordPress theme could be causing this issue.

This step is similar to deactivating your plugins. You’ll need to connect to your website using an FTP client and navigate to the wp-content folder.

Right Click to Rename the Themes Folder

Once there, you will see a folder called themes. This is where WordPress stores all themes installed on your website.

This time you need to right-click on the plugins folder and select Rename. We’ll call it ‘themes.deactivate’.

This will activate the default theme. Now try to log into your WordPress site to see if this has fixed the problem.

If you still receive the “Sorry, you are not allowed to access this page” error, then the problem isn’t caused by a theme. You need to rename the ‘themes.deactivate’ folder back to ‘themes’ and move on to the next step.

If you can log in, then the previous theme caused the problem and you can start to troubleshoot. You could try using a different theme or reinstall the same theme and carefully configure it.

If the error returns, then report it to the theme author. They may be able to help you solve the problem or fix a bug in the theme.

Final Troubleshooting Steps

If you’re still reading, then unfortunately the other steps haven’t solved your problem. Here are a few more things you can try.

Check Error Log

You may be able to check an error log for clues about what went wrong. Your hosting provider may be keeping logs, or you may have previously set WordPress up to keep them.

For more details, check our guide on how to set up WordPress error logs, or contact your hosting provider.

Update to Latest PHP

If your WordPress site is running an older version of PHP, then it may be causing problems. Upgrading to the latest version may be helpful.

For more information, check our guide on how PHP updates by your web host impact your WordPress site, or contact your hosting provider.

Restore Your Most Recent Backup

If you’ve made a recent backup of your WordPress website, then restoring it to an earlier version is likely to fix the “Sorry, you are not allowed to access this page” error.

The problem is, you will lose any changes to your settings and content made after the backup.

For more information, check our beginner’s guide on how to restore WordPress from backup.

Contact Your Hosting Provider

If you are unable to fix the error on your own, then you should contact your WordPress hosting company to see if there is anything they can do.

Many providers offer excellent technical support and may be able to solve the problem for you.

For example, they may be able to check their server error logs or have created their own backups of your WordPress site. They will be able to advise you on how they can help and what you should do next.

For the best results, make sure you check our guide on how to properly ask for WordPress support and get it.

We hope this tutorial helped you learn how to fix the “Sorry, you are not allowed to access this page” error in WordPress. You may also want to bookmark our ultimate troubleshooting guide of the most common WordPress errors, or see our guide on how to get a free email domain.

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